There's something about the FA Cup and the new Wembley Stadium that seems to rub Manchester United the wrong way.
United were unable to follow up an impressive win against Chelsea, instead looking really flat in their FA Cup showdown against their bitter rivals. Manchester City were only five days removed from a beatdown at the hands of Liverpool; and without Carlos Tevez, they looked (at least on paper) to probably come out on the worse end of the things.
However, they were hungrier and more determined than Manchester United. Should City go on to lift the trophy, it will no doubt be huge psychological lift; seeing that it's going on 35 years now since they last touched any kind of silverware that wasn’t alongside a plate. Yahya Toure will go down in City folklore for his role in this game; latching onto Michael Carrick's errant pass, fending off Nemanja Vidic before slotting home the game's only goal.
When Paul Scholes was given his marching orders for a late challenge on Zabaleta, United's fate was pretty much sealed at that point. Tackling has never been Scholes' strength, but that doesn't deter him from making the unnecessary attempt every now and then.
Even though United was without the suspended Wayne Rooney, they still had a squad good enough to win the game; but it looks like Rooney's quest for the only trophy he has yet to win will have to wait another year. In his first season with United, they made it back to the final in hopes of defending their title, but lost to Arsenal on penalties. A late Didier Drogba goal gave Chelsea the win over United two years later.
In 2008, a considerably strong United squad were knocked out by Portsmouth, then lost to Everton on penalties in the 2009 semi-finals; a match that was played in Wembley. In that match against Everton, Sir Alex Ferguson was vocal about the playing surface, stating that it was a major factor in his deciding against fielding most of his regular stars.
While they have won 2 consecutive League Cup finals in the same stadium, it has been a much different story in the FA Cup. Even though United still hold the record for most FA Cups won (11), they could have easily added to that number at their track record in recent tournaments since 2004 when they last won it. You can make an argument that they have been quite capable of winning it every year since 2004.
United are still on pace for another Wembley appearance should they get past Schalke in the Champions League semis. One can only hope that they will have figured out their “Wembley Woes” by then.
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